Move
by Minikimii
Summary: He told you his name was Sora. You said you didn't need a nurse to take care of you. But what kind of idiot goes through physical therapy alone? Riku/Sora


Disclaimer: KH is not mine.  
I was inspired to write in this POV after reading a number of NuvolaLuz's works. If the quality of this piece can be equal to hers by even a half, I'll be happy.

* * *

**Move**

You don't remember much about the accident.

They didn't expect you to.

Getting off at the end of your shift at the dead end job you had in the city, a drunk teen driver hit your car as you pulled out of the parking lot. Your brother, Zexion, mumbled into your ear so that Mother would not notice him telling you. She probably only wanted to protect her 'baby boy'.

Then the doctor told you bluntly that you were lucky to have sustained an incomplete injury and then mentioned something about being between ASIA C and D (whatever that was). You gave him a questioning glance, but he turned away before you could ask anything. You tried sitting up, maybe even attempted to get off the bed - God knows why - only to find that you couldn't. The doctors speak to your Mother and she buries her face in Zexion's shoulder, unable to meet your confused gaze.

This is when you realize it: you're paralyzed from the waist down. You, track star in high school ready to set the next big record as a junior in college, are paralyzed from the waist down - a temporary paraplegic. An agonizing moan reaches into the air, lingering for a dreadful half minute before you realize it is your own. Closing off the functionality of your vocal box, you sink your head back into the pillow. Zexion smiles piteously and promises that you'll get through this. A quivering fear rises in your chest because you know when Zexion is comforting someone hope must be lost.

- -

They told you his name was Sora; Sora like the sky that his bright blue eyes reflected into your own. Mother actually chuckled when she met him while Zexion joked that he was the freeing sky to your stable land. For some reason, this didn't amuse you as they hoped it would. You glare angrily at the pair, but your older brother simply tousles your messy and matted silver hair murmuring something about temporary moodiness.

Mother leaves thinking that everything will be okay. Zexion is unsure but reassured by your calm outer demeanor. You let them believe that everything will be okay, for acting out in front of them is something you've always refrained from doing. You listen intently for their footsteps to die out down the hallway before you turn and glare at the brunet angrily.

"I don't need a nurse to take care of me," you inform the earnest, boyish man standing at your bedside. A shocked face crossed his features before he smiles dejectedly and nods. Your heart cracks a little as he begins to leave, so you call him back apologize. The sparkle in his eye returns full force and you can feel its contagious happiness spread through your system.

He clarifies that he is not a nurse, just an intern, so it wouldn't matter much anyway whether or not you wanted a nurse helping you. He's a bit cocky about it and flashes you a brilliant smile while he informs you. Normally, this kind of behavior would grate on your nerves, but you find you self not minding quite as much. Maybe it was the way the brunet presented himself? Regardless, you offer a small laugh instead and Sora joins in.

As much as you hate to admit it, you might just get to like the little guy.

- -

You had your first sponge bath today. A pretty blonde nurse helped you out of your clothes and began washing your limbs gently with her caring and perfectly manicured fingers. Namine is her name. She is older than Sora, that much you could tell, and definitely a hired professional. Nothing like the clumsy intern that had been hanging around your bed for the past few days.

Warm water drips down your arms and torso. You can feel it, but it's too difficult to move your limbs to wipe away the ticklish feeling of the liquid sliding down your skin. The girl smiles at you and you feel your face flush. She has pretty, even lips and perfect teeth. Kind of like Kairi, your ex-girlfriend who left you for some blond football player named Tidus. Namine reminds you of that past and how gentle Kairi had been with you before she was gone.

The sponge moves to a lower part of your anatomy, sending the thoughts in your head reeling into a corner of your mind that you had been wondering about for the last few days. Much to your shock, horror, and relief the organ between your legs wouldn't co-operate with your wishes, for you are now standing at attention, facing the fair blonde. Excited, she exits the room in a flurry to retrieve your mother and Zexion.

The trio enter the room with the pretty girl pointing excitedly at the space between your legs. Zexion smirks and Mother claps happily. "At least you can have children," she says. It's almost enough to make you go over and strangle Namine. Almost.

You'll just tough it out today. Maybe you should request that someone male wash you instead. It would certainly take care of the problems that could occur down south. You voice this request and are met with a nod and a smile by Namine.

Outside the door, you can hear a sparkling, boyish laugh. Sora. He's always near you ready with a laugh or smile. For some reason, when you realize that it's him laughing, you become more embarassed. Yet, unexplainably, hearing Sora's laugh has become soothing and familiar. Maybe he should be the one taking care of you instead.

- -

The first day of physical therapy and you're already on the verge of breaking. Your previously demigodly legs have become nearly unresponsive. The cold metal of those two bars seeps through your fingers as you struggle to carry even a portion of your weight across the small six foot strip. And to think that you'd been at the top of your game before the accident happened. Perfect health and a strong, often lusted-after body.

Suddenly, what used to be your legs gives out and the sensation of gravity forcing you downward beats down relentlessly on your body. You fall again and Sora is unable to get to your side as you scream angrily at him to leave. The brunet sighs and smile, ignoring your outburst because he's long since learned that you have angry tendencies where you don't mean what you say. Instead, he lifts you up by your arms and helps you get back into place.

"Don't touch me! I can do this myself," you spit out venemously in his direction.

Like the angel he is, he only silently smiles again at you, the wrinkles around his eyes uncreasing and leaving his fair features. The sadness in his expression comes back again, causing your anger to falter and tremble beneath its silent pleading sorrow. Somehow, you know something must have happened to him in his past. He's hurting past what you said - no, what you screamed - and you apologize. He smiles again, but the sadness still lingers and you caused it.

Knowledge of this is almost enough to break your heart.

- -

The college took away your scholarship. You came to expect it, being unable to run track and all... you just didn't expect it to be so soon. You sit in bed, a silent tear trickling down your cheek. How are you supposed to get through college? Mother and Zexion almost don't have enough money for rent let alone support you through all four years. The hospital bills are bad enough already and even though they try to hide it, you know that they've taken out loans already to pay the debt.

Beside you, Sora sits awkwardly and you can tell he wants to do something for you. You look up, not wanting to know what your tear-streaked face must look like.

"Zexion gave up college so I could get schooling," you tell him, "and he tutored me every night and ran with me every day so I could get good grades and maybe a shot at an athletic scholarship."

The brunet nods leaning into your bed more and resting his chin on your arm. Even though it's only a small movement and a bit of contact you feel that Sora's already working his comforting magic on your body. You visibly relax at his touch when his slightly calloused fingers rub against your forearm gently in soothing circles. Reaching across the bed, you place your hand gratefully on the back of his neck.

He looks up and your eyes lock. Red and puffy eyelids tell you that he was crying too. As awful as you feel to say it, you would be more surprised if he didn't cry. After all, he was the one that had been taking care of you for the last four months. He was the one leading you through your physical therapy. Even the senior nurses had commended him for his skill, effort, and patience.

"Even if they took that away from you, I'll be here. If you need me, I'm here," he whispers, pressing his lips to your hand. You return the motion and kiss the crown of his head without a second thought. "Always, Riku."

The darkness of the room you two are alone in seeps away a fraction and you smile. You don't know why he said it, but somewhere inside the hurt lessens a little.

- -

Dreams are only dreams. Your brunet angel reminds you of that as he shakes you awake with you crying again for the umpteenth time since you've been admitted into the hospital. Somewhere in your subconscious, you know that you had another dream about the crash.

Awareness coming over your senses, you see the room around you and suddenly begin clinging to the younger boy, his loose white T-shirt caught permanently in your hands as you hang on life he's your one and only lifeline. In a sense, he is and you realize that as you pull him with enough force to topple him into your bed. Complying with your wishes, the boy scoots into the space you've made for him and drapes a sense of security around you along with the warming comfort of his arms. His small frame shakes gently against your and you know he's crying with you yet again.

You hate yourself for making the boy cry, but you love him for doing so.

_I love him?_ you think to yourself, shocked at the revelation. _I can't love another man... I'm not gay!_

But even as you try to reason with yourself, you know that you have a quiverring and trembling bundle in your arms that needs to be taken care of. Pushing aside the thoughts just enough to function, you pull his slim body closer to yours. His face burrows into your fading muscles and his breath spreads from a spot on your chest and to a wider radius that brushes ever so lightly against your neck. The warm air is, admittedly, arousing as his ragged breathing grows soft through your shirt.

_I'm not gay... I'm not gay..._ you repeat to yourself in your mind. You never had anything against gays, hell your brother had a few gay friends that hung around the house when the two of you felt like you needed to relax. You've even read books that had gay people in them that were either the main or side characters. Those things never caused flinching before and you could sit through a book for hours on end without flinching.

But doesn't mean you're gay... right?

For the rest of the nights afterward, Sora shared the bed with you. He was with you during every waking an sleeping hour of the day, so it was only natural that he be allowed to sleep in a bed as well. You had told him that yourself the next morning and he had complied with a blush, nodding and hugging you into the mattress.

- -

It's been a long while now that you've spent at the hospital and today you finally got enough control over your legs to be able to walk across the six-foot stretch without help. At the end of the strip, you turn around with a triumphant gleam in your eyes. A few more weeks and maybe you could master enough control over your lower body to walk with a cane.

You fall down onto the strip, this time with happy tears flowing from your eyes. Sora rushes to your side and pulls you into a tight but careful hug on the floor. Letting go of your mental restraints, you laugh and hug him back for a long two seconds before pulling away.

"You're amazing!" he exclaims, beaming. "I bet you'll be up and running in no time!"

"Literally?" you respond, poking him square on the nose. He laughs and hugs you again. Around you, the nurses all turn and smile, the younger ones giggling behind their politely raised fingertips. You send motivation grins toward their directions, hoping that maybe soon another patient will be able to achieve mobility as well.

That night, Zexion and Mother visit you in your new room at the hospital. Outside, you see a figure with flaming red hair lean against a wall, eavesdropping while Sora does his 'epic retelling' of how you walked six feet today. The two of them beam proudly your way, laughing at Sora's humorous asides as he entertains and informs your family. Two hours pass before visiting hours are over and Axel (the friend of Zexion's that had drove both him and Mother to the hospital) leaves along with your family, ready to go back to the apartment complex.

Before he exits the room, Zexion slips a piece of paper into your hands during the time in which Sora insists that he see them out of the hospital. With silence taking over the atmosphere once more, you unfold the paper.

_Mother and I are living with Axel now,_it reads, Zexion's neat, computer-like handwriting smiling up at you from the page. _The three of us share rent along with Axel's brother, Reno, and it's not that bad. Mother finally found a job with health care that pays pretty well. She's working with some florist names Aerith and comes home smelling like a garden every night. It drives Reno crazy, actually. He's just too polite to say it, especially when Mother is the one feeding him something other than burned soup and overly crispified chicken every night.  
-Zex_

_P.S. And I'm just writing this a few minutes before I leave, but if you haven't noticed already, Sora's in love with you. And you love him too._

You take the note and stuff it into your favorite book that you've been reading that is placed at your beside. The worn out spine of "Magic's Pawn" faces back at you, the author's name, Mercedes Lackey, filling your vision at your bedside table and staring back at you with disinterest. With the note securely tucked against the spine of your book, you smile happily and involuntarily, snuggling deeper into the bleached white sheets, staying awake and faking sleep just long enough to feel Sora come back into the room and slip into the space on the bed that you two had gotten used to sharing.

- -

He kissed you today. Kind of. You woke up and the first thing you felt was another pair of lips pressed against yours.

Actually, you can't remember who kissed who. It was too much of a blur at such an early time in the morning. All you know is that you pushed him closer to you by the nape of his neck and kissed him back with more vigor than before you had been fully comprehending. His lips were so soft against yours as his trembling hands reached beneath your shirt and began to roam your chest and back, sliding the cloth up gently. He lets out a slight moan as the two of your bodies press closer together, snapping you out of the euphoric high you had slipped into from touching the younger man in such an intimate way.

Gorgeous blue eyes star directly into your face as you feel the shock play obviously across your face. You watch, caught behind the mask of disgust you had learned to put on during your days of highschool and preliminary days of college when the other members of the track team had propositioned you, saying that you were 'too pretty to be only straight.' Quickly, you realize what expression you are wearing is not what you are feeling and you wipe it off your face.

"I'm not gay...?" you whisper. A combined question and revelation from the night before when Sora had fallen asleep in your arms. You refocus back onto the brunet and reach out toward him, intending to cup his cheek and kiss him once more.

However, this combined with the look on your face was enough for him. Salty water from his aqua blue eyes overflowed and landed on the pillow as he got up from his spot on the bed.

_His spot,_ you think. _It's his because he is always here with me._

"S-sora?" you ask as he sits up and scoots off the bed, his body shaking as he turned away from you for the last time. "Where are you going?"

"You're not gay," he whispers back and you know you fucked up big time. You watch, dismayed, your mouth and words dysfuntional as your angel walks out of the room. Your room. Your angel is abandoning you and you know it.

Trying to follow results in a fall directly onto the floor, the cool carpet flying into your face as your arm's reflexes were delayed and you were unable to catch yourself. You almost have the nerve to curse your legs for being unable to carry you out after him, but instead, you pull the pillow and the blanket off the bed and with you onto the floor. You know perfectly well that you can get onto the bed again after falling, but lack of motivation fuels your actions as you snuggle into the wet stop on your pillow, breathing in every breath of Sora's scent until the dull ache numbs and you slip into a restless sleep.

- -

They took Sora from you. Or, at least that's what you told yourself.

The next morning, the brunet was assigned to another patient and you hadn't seen him since, even in the rehabilitation room. So many months pass and you start to wither without his smile, the kind and bright demeanor you had developed lapsing into an endless pessimism. Now different nurses take turns taking care of you. The bathings with different strangers became awkward as you had become used to the way Sora had stripped you of your clothing with such gentle care and the way he had touched lightly against your skin like you were a breakable doll without making you want to scream 'Stop!'

He was able to take care of you and annoy you without leaving. The other nurses make you so irritable they wonder in your presence how you could have been such a perfect, model patient when you were with Sora. You give the nurse the finger and she back away, scowling and throwing your clothes at you.

"You're well enough to dress and bathe yourself," she says and storms out of the room. You don't mind though. If you couldn't have Sora then you would have no one at all.

- -

You were discharged from the hospital this morning. The face of almost every nurse from the rehabilitation ward bid you goodbye as you parted from what you had grown to love as your second family. Although you try your hardest to maintain the happiness in your eyes, you can't help but frantically search for that familiar mass of spiky brown hair. Even a glimpse of the bright, sapphire eyes would be enough for you at the moment. Even asking for a chance to apologize would be too much.

You take one look back up at the hospital and into the approximate area of the old room where you had been staying. It was probably a just a trick of the light, but just before you got into the car, you saw a spiky shadow pass in front of the the window. Your heart skips a beat and you hold onto the car door, staring up at the window.

"C'mon, Kuu," the tattooed redhead calls to you, "we have to go home now. Your leg isn't back to perfect, ya know."

Alas, time runs out and you leave in the car that Axel is once again driving away from the hospital. Riding in the front of the car with his best friend, you can see Zexion's gaze shift in the rear-view and look directly at you. You know what he's thinking and you it kills you to know that you have the shameful answer stinging sharply at the tip of your tongue.

_Because I fucked up. That's why Sora's gone._

And somehow, by the simple look of lost, dead, emotionless reply in your eyes, your older brother understands and his gaze fall back to the window outside and toward a trio of kids that you pass as you turn into the apartment complex. If only life were so simple as three friend playing a game. Somehow, you can tell that was what Zexion was thinking, too.

- -

Lonely months pass and time seems to stop on this particular Friday. You awoke suddenly in the darkness of your shared bed and bedroom with Zexion in Axel and Reno's apartment, breath labored and heaving with dream-induced tears streaming down your cheeks. Beside you, Zexion stirs and his eyes flutter open, his silver lashes similar to your own batting several times before his slim finger reached up to rub them. He sees the tears and wraps his arms silently and protectively around your body.

"Riku..." he whispers no longer able to offer any words to ease your mind from the nostalgic dreams your subconscious subjects you to nightly.

You give him a thankful squeeze on his hand and pull away burrowing back into the mass blankets. Sunday, you're going out to look for work again to help pay the rent. Today, you're going to visit the hospital. It's only four AM though and your exhausted body needs more rest.

_The hospital can wait 'til morning..._

Mysteriously, someone paid your hospital bills for you and threw several thousand dollars your way for college.

_A wealthy old man looking to help out the youth in need? _you had wondered.

The only person outside of your family and friends who had known about the scholarship retraction and his family's monetary predicament enough to care was... It didn't matter because the money was from an anonymous source that had sent specific directions not to attempt to contact him. You can't be sure of your hypothesis. Regardless, you sent the hospital a note of thanks to pass on to whoever it was who gave such a generous donation.

After laying in bed for enough hour, you get up from bed with Zexion still asleep, and make your way toward your shared closet. You grab a dressy black shirt off the hanger and rummage around your half of the dresser drawers until you find a pair of jeans, boots, and a jacket for the snow outside.

You skip breakfast this morning and head down the seven flights of steps in your apartment building. You could have taken the elevator, but you realized you had cherished the functionality of your legs too much even as a track star before you got into the accident. As you reach, the first floor of the stair well and open the door, you hear a familiar voice on the opposite side of the fuzzy glass window of the apartment door muttering to himself.

"Sora?" you venture, whispering his name into the cold winter air as you turn the knob and slowly push the door open.

Outside, those beautiful blue eyes meet yours and as if on a reflexive impulse, the brunet starts to cry and turn away. He hurries off the three concrete steps in an attempt to leave, bringing back every memory you had tried to forget about the angel who had forsaken you that awful night so long ago.

But this time it would be different. but not before you reach out a hand to grab him by the wrist.

"Let go," he sniffs, trying fruitlessly to pull away from your grasp.

Instead, you do the exact opposite. You yank his arm so that he collapses against you and into the budding warmth of your jacket. You feel the weak but resistant effort he puts out to pull himself away from you and you tighten your arms around his body.

"But you're not gay," he whispers.

"It's only according to you now that I'm not gay."

You can feel all movement cease in his body as he stiffens from your words. Confusion practically permeates his skin as he turns his face upward to look into your eyes. That perfect, tear-stained angel...

"Doctor," you laugh, "if the diagnosis is correct, then I must be Sora-sexual."

A happy smile spread across his face and he jumps up suddenly and pressed his lips wildly against your own. His brown spikes tickle your nose as he burrows into your chest and you both let go of all inhibitions as you pull him closer to you.

"I've been here every morning at three 'til four since you left," he informs you. "I had my foster Daddy send you guys money. He took a cut out of his paycheck and my college fund to give you guys enough to continue." He sniffed and locked eyes with you again. "He's in charge of the hospital you wre staying at, so no worries about the money, alright? All he had to do was give up smoking."

It's impossible not to grin down at the brunet in yours arms. "I figured," you respond as you move your right hand to caress his face. He closes his eyes and leans in to your touch and with a movement as delicate as a butterfly's wing, you dip down and brush your lips against his. Standing in the doorway to your humble apartment, you soundlessly whisper against various patches of his skin the five phrases that encompassed all of what you felt and were too afraid to say, stopping finally at the fifth phrase to brush a kiss against his forehead.

"I'm sorry."  
"I missed you."  
"Forgive me."  
"I love you."

_"Thank you."_

* * *

Note: The ASIA scale is a way to classify the degree a paraplegic or quadriplegic is impaired to. ASIA A indicates that there are no function and no sense in the lower S4 and S5 areas of the spinal cord. Riku is between an ASIA C and D meaning that he has feeling in his entire body but (I think) is having a somewhat difficult time moving his arms and is paralized in the legs. [I'm not a med student, so if anyone could tell me whether or not I got that right or wrong it would be greatly appreciated.]

I really liked the way this came out. This plot line was born after watching Murderball in my health class, but I didn't really have a format I was going to tell the story in until I ran across NuvolaLuz's works. I have a quadriplegic teacher, so I guess that kinda fueled my inspiration for writing this as well and we learn a bit about the world of paralysis and rehab through him. If the information is inaccurate, please tell me. I love getting my work corrected.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it! :)

_Bisous, Minikimii_


End file.
